GOP Chairman: 2008 election looks bad

January 19, 2007
GOP Chairman: 2008 election looks bad

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 — Ken Mehlman, the departing chairman of the Republican National
Committee, warned on Thursday that his party would suffer even more devastating losses in 2008
than it did in 2006 if it did not reach out to minorities and address voter concerns about
ethics.

He said that if Republican officials shrugged off the repudiation of the party in the 2006
elections they would lose the White House in 2008 and remain in the minority in Congress
indefinitely. He said the party had to recommit itself to political reform, fiscal restraint and
personal ethics.